Water Management in Khartoum International Research Project: WAMAKHAIR

该项目的目标是(1)描述喀土穆大都市区的水分配系统，(2)从社会和空间差异的角度分析获取水的差异，以及(3)根据当前的变化解释城市水管理的社会空间变化。该项目建立在这样一个假设之上，即在这个意义上，水流可以被视为当代城市社会权力和变化的一种表达。关键问题是，目前的监管制度如何反映城市社会及其碎片内的变革过程，即一方面是竞争、分化和排斥，另一方面是凝聚力和包容性。该项目的第二个假设认为，可以在空间模式和日益扩大的差距中观察到这些部分相互矛盾的过程。在此基础上，该项目将侧重于代表不同生计和住区形式的五个案例研究区域，即高耗水量的上层阶级地区、日益缺水的中产阶级居民区、居民高度脆弱的棚户区、城市周边农民住区和工业区。这些案例研究将从用水实践、当地对水的认知和讨论、分配系统不同层面上的水分配机制以及城市社会中不同社会群体为协商其需求和利益而制定的策略等方面进行比较。该项目的第三个假设将喀土穆的情况置于更大的背景下进行解释。它认为，地方进程既反映了经济自由化的全球影响，也反映了以伊斯兰教为基础的合法化话语。最后，法德研究小组打算利用这一合作项目加强和强化人文地理学的理论成果，寻找盎格鲁-撒克逊统治下当前主流辩论之外的替代方案。

The objectives of the project are to (1) describe the system of water distribution in the metropolitan area of Khartoum, to (2) analyse differences in the access to water in terms of social and spatial differentiation, and to (3) interpret socio-spatial transformations of urban water management in relation to current changes. The project builds on the hypothesis that in this sense water flows can be seen as an expression of power and change in contemporary urban societies. The key question is how the present regulatory system reflects transformational processes within the urban society and its fragments, i.e. competition, differentiation and exclusion on the one hand, and cohesion and inclusion on the other. The second hypothesis of the project argues that these partly contradictory processes can be observed in spatial patterns and growing disparities. On this basis the project will focus on five case study areas that represent different forms of livelihood and settlement, i.e. an upper class area with high water consumption, a middle class neighbourhood with increasing water scarcity, a squatter settlement with highly vulnerable inhabitants, a peri-urban peasant settlement and an industrial area. The case studies will be compared with respect to the practice of water use, the local perception of and the discourse about water, the mechanisms of water distribution on different levels of the distributive system, and the strategies different social groups within the urban society develop to negotiate theirs needs and interests. The third hypothesis of the project puts the case of Khartoum into a larger context of interpretation. It argues that local processes reflect both the global influences of economic liberalization and legitimatory discourses on the basis of Islam. Finally, the Franco-German research team intends to use this cooperative project for an enhancement and intensification of theory production in human geography, looking for alternatives away from present mainstream debates under Anglo-Saxon domination.